Bed Bath And Beyond Is Getting Crushed

Bed Bath & Beyond is down 12% to $70.04 after the company missed earnings and cut full-year guidance yesterday.

Gary Balter at Credit Suisse downgraded the stock to Neutral, from Outperform and lowered his price target to $78, from $85.

Balter thinks the retailer is well-positioned but argues that "square footage growth is low at less than 2%, implying that growth needs to come from comps and margins."

"Yet putting aside a better second quarter, the company has struggled to put those two variables together. We assume that comps next year will be in the low- to mid-single-digit range, but gross margins will continue to decline, although at a lower rate. At this time last year that may have been fine given the attractive valuation, but BBBY's strong performance in 2013 implies limited upside for this well-managed chain.

Analysts at Canaccord Genuity lowered their pre ice target to $73, from $84. And Oppenheimer lowered its price target to $86, according to 24/7 Wall Street.

The stock is said to have hit its short-sale circuit breaker. This is the point at which there is a ban on short-selling after a stock has dropped a certain amount.